The Dawn and the Day Part 9

Quicker than eagles soaring toward the sun Till but a speck against the azure vault Swoop down upon their unsuspecting prey, Quicker than watch-fires on the mountain-top Send warnings to the dwellers in the plain, Led by his guides he reached Nirvana's verge, Whence he beheld a broad and pleasant plain, Spread with a carpet of the richest green And decked with flowers of every varied tint, Whose blended odors fill the balmy air, Where trees, pleasant to sight and good for food, In rich abundance and spontaneous grow.

A living stream, as purest crystal clear, With gentle murmurs wound along the plain, Its surface bright with fairer lotus-flowers Than mortal eye on earth had ever seen, While on its banks were cool, umbrageous groves Whose drooping branches spicy breezes stir, A singing bird in every waving bough, Whose joyful notes the soul of music shed.

A mighty mult.i.tude, beyond the power Of men to number, moved about the plain; Some, seeming strangers, wander through the groves And pluck the flowers or eat the luscious fruits; Some, seeming visitors from better worlds, Here wait and watch as for expected guests; While angel devas, clothed in innocence, Whose faces beam with wisdom, glow with love, With loving welcomes greet each coming guest, With loving counsels aid, instruct and guide.

And as he looked, the countless, restless throng Seemed ever changing, ever moving on, So that this plain, comparing great to small, Seemed like a station near some royal town, Greater than London or old Babylon, Where all the roads from some vast empire meet, And many caravans or sweeping trains Bring and remove the ever-changing throng.

This plain a valley bordered, deep and still, The very valley of his fearful dream Seen from the other side, whose rising mists Were all aglow with ever-changing light, Like pa.s.sing clouds above the setting sun, Through which as through a gla.s.s he darkly saw Unnumbered funeral-trains, in sable clad, To solemn music and with measured tread Bearing their dead to countless funeral-piles, As thick as heaps that through the livelong day With patient toil the st.u.r.dy woodmen rear, While clearing forests for the golden grain, And set aflame when evening's shades descend, Filling the glowing woods with floods of light And ghostly shadows: So these funeral-piles Send up their curling smoke and crackling flames.

There eager flames devour an infant's flesh; Here loving arms that risen infant clasp; There loud laments bewail a loved one lost; Here joyful welcomes greet that loved one found.

And there he saw a pompous funeral-train, Bearing a body clothed in robes of state, To blare of trumpet, sound of sh.e.l.l and drum, While many mourners bow in silent grief, And widows, orphans raise a loud lament As for a father, a protector lost; And as the flames lick up the fragrant oils, And whirl and hiss around that wasting form, An eager watcher from a better world Welcomes her husband to her open arms, The c.u.mbrous load of pomp and power cast off, While waiting devas and the happy throng His power protected and his bounty blessed With joy conduct his unaccustomed steps Onward and upward, to those blissful seats Where all his stores of duties well performed, Of power well used and wealth in kindness given, Were garnered up beyond the reach of thieves, Where moths ne'er eat and rust can ne'er corrupt.

Another train draws near a funeral-pile, Of aloes, sandal-wood and ca.s.sia built, And drenched with every incense-breathing oil, And draped with silks and rich with rarest flowers, Where grim officials clothed in robes of state Placed one in royal purple, decked with gems, Whose word had been a trembling nation's law, Whose angry nod was death to high or low.

No mourners gather round this costly pile; The people shrink in terror from the sight.

But sullen soldiers there keep watch and ward While eager flames consume those nerveless hands So often raised to threaten or command, Suck out those eyes that filled the court with fear, And only left of all this royal pomp A little dust the winds may blow away.

But here that selfsame monarch comes in view, For royal purple clothed in filthy rags, And l.u.s.terless that crown of priceless gems; Those eyes, whose bend so lately awed the world, Blinking and bleared and blinded by the light; Those hands, that late a royal scepter bore, Shaking with fear and dripping all with blood.

And as he looked that some should give him place And lead him to a seat for monarchs fit, He only saw a group of innocents His hands had slain, now clothed in spotless white, From whom he fled as if by furies chased, Fled from those groves and gardens of delight, Fled on and down a broad and beaten road By many trod, and toward a desert waste With distance dim, and gloomy, grim and vast, Where piercing thorns and leafless briars grow, And dead sea-apples, ashes to the taste, Where loathsome reptiles crawl and hiss and sting, And birds of night and bat-winged dragons fly, Where beetling cliffs seem threatening instant fall, And opening chasms seem yawning to devour, And sulphurous seas were swept with lurid flames That seethe and boil from hidden fires below.

Again he saw, beyond that silent vale, One frail and old, without a rich man's gate Laid down to die beneath a peepul-tree, And parched with thirst and pierced with sudden pain, A root his pillow and the earth his bed; Alone he met the King of terrors there; Whose wasting body, c.u.mbering now the ground, Chandalas cast upon the pa.s.sing stream To float and fester in the fiery sun, Till whirled by eddies, caught by roots, it lay A prey for vultures and for fishes food.

That selfsame day a dart of deadly pain Shot through that rich man's hard, unfeeling heart, That laid him low, beyond the power to save, E'en while his servants cast without his gates That poor old man, who came to beg him spare His roof-tree, where his fathers all had died, His hearth, the shrine of all his inmost joys, His little home, to every heart so dear; And in due season tongues of hissing flames That rich man's robes like snowflakes whirled in air, And curled his crackling skin, consumed his flesh, And sucked the marrow from his whitened bones.

But here these two their places seem to change.

That rich man's houses, lands, and flocks and herds, His servants, rich apparel, stores of gold, And all he loved and lived for left behind, The friends that nature gave him turned to foes, Dependents whom his greed had wronged and crushed Shrinking away as from a deadly foe; No generous wish, no gentle, tender, thought To hide his nakedness, his shriveled soul Stood stark and bare, the gaze of pa.s.sers-by; Nothing within to draw him on and up, He slinks away, and wanders on and down, Till in the desert, groveling in the dust, He digs and burrows, seeking treasures there-- While that poor man, as we count poverty, Is rich in all that makes the spirit's wealth, His heart so pure that thoughts of guile And evil purpose find no lodgment there; His life so innocent that bitter words And evil-speaking ne'er escape his lips; The little that he had he freely shared, And wished it more that more he might have given; Now rich in soul--for here a crust of bread In kindness shared, a cup of water given, Is worth far more than all Potosi's mines, And Araby's perfumes and India's silks, And all the cattle on a thousand hills-- And clothed as with a robe of innocence The devas welcome him, his troubles pa.s.sed, The conflict ended and the triumph gained.

And there two Brahmans press their funeral-pile, And sink to dust amid the whirling flames.

Each from his lisping infancy had heard That Brahmans were a high and holy caste, Too high and holy for the common touch, And each had learned the Vedas' sacred lore.

But here they parted. One was cold and proud, Drawing away from all the humbler castes As made to toil, and only fit to serve.

The other found within those sacred books That all were brothers, made of common clay, And filled with life from one eternal source, While Brahmans only elder brothers were, With greater light to be his brother's guide, With greater strength to give his brother aid; That he alone a real Brahman was Who had a Brahman's spirit, not his blood.

With patient toil from youth to h.o.a.ry age He taught the ignorant and helped the weak.

And now they come where all external pomp And rank and caste and creed are nothing worth.

But when that proud and haughty Brahman saw Poor Sudras and Chandalas clothed in white, He swept away with proud and haughty scorn, Swept on and down where heartless selfishness Alone can find congenial company.

The other, full of joy, his brothers met, And in sweet harmony they journeyed on Where higher joys await the pure in heart.

And there he saw all ranks and grades and castes, Chandala, Sudra, warrior, Brahman, prince, The wise and ignorant, the strong and weak, In all the stages of our mortal round From lisping; infancy to palsied age, By all the ways to human frailty known, Enter that vale of shadows, deep and still, Leaving behind their pomp and power and wealth, Leaving their rags and wretchedness and want, And cast-off bodies, dust to dust returned, By flames consumed or moldering to decay, While here the real character appeared, All shows, hypocrisies and shams cast off, So that a life of gentleness and love Shines through the face and molds the outer form To living beauty, blooming not to fade, While every act of cruelty and crime Seems like a gangrened ever-widening wound, Wasting the very substance of the soul, Marring its beauty, eating out its strength.

And here arrived, the good, in little groups Together drawn by inward sympathy, And led by devas, take the upward way To those sweet fields his opened eyes had seen, Those ever-widening mansions of delight; While those poor souls--O sad and fearful sight!-- The very well-springs of the life corrupt, Shrink from the light and shun the pure and good, Fly from the devas, who with perfect love Would gladly soothe their anguish, ease their pain, Fly on and down that broad and beaten road, Till in the distance in the darkness lost.

Lost! lost! and must it be forever lost?

The gentle Buddha's all-embracing love Shrunk from the thought, but rather sought relief In that most ancient faith by sages taught, That these poor souls at length may find escape, The grasping in the gross and greedy swine, The cunning in the sly and prowling fox, The cruel in some ravening beast of prey; While those less hardened, less depraved, may gain Rebirth in men, degraded, groveling, base.[1]

But here in sadness let us drop the veil, Hoping that He whose ways are not like ours, Whose love embraces all His handiwork, Who in beginnings sees the final end, May find some way to save these sinful souls Consistent with His fixed eternal law That good from good, evil from evil flows.

Here Buddha saw the mystery of life At last unfolded to its hidden depths.

He saw that selfishness was sorrow's root, And ignorance its dense and deadly shade; He saw that selfishness bred l.u.s.t and hate, Deformed the features, and defiled the soul And closed its windows to those waves of love That flow perennial from Nirvana's Sun.

He saw that groveling l.u.s.ts and base desires Like noxious weeds unchecked luxurious grow, Making a tangled jungle of the soul, Where no good seed can find a place to root, Where n.o.ble purposes and pure desires And gentle thoughts wither and fade and die Like flowers beneath the deadly upas-tree.

He saw that selfishness bred grasping greed, And made the miser, made the prowling thief, And bred hypocrisy, pretense, deceit, And made the bigot, made the faithless priest, Bred anger, cruelty, and thirst for blood, And made the tyrant, stained the murderer's knife, And filled the world with war and want and woe, And filled the dismal regions of the lost With fiery flames of pa.s.sions never quenched, With sounds of discord, sounds of clanking chains, With cries of anguish, howls of bitter hate, Yet saw that man was free--not bound and chained[2]

Helpless and hopeless to a whirling wheel, Rolled on resistless by some cruel power, Regardless of their cries and prayers and tears-- Free to resist those gross and groveling l.u.s.ts, Free to obey Nirvana's law of love, The law of order--primal, highest law-- Which guides the great Artificer himself, Who weaves the garments of the joyful spring, Who paints the glories of the pa.s.sing clouds, Who tunes the music of the rolling spheres, Guided by love in all His mighty works, Filling with love the humblest willing heart.

He saw that love softens and sweetens life, And stills the pa.s.sions, soothes the troubled breast, Fills homes with joy and gives the nations peace, A sovereign balm for all the spirit's wounds, The living fountain of Nirvana's bliss; For here before his eyes were countless souls, Born to the sorrows of a sinful world, With burdens bowed, by cares and griefs oppressed, Who felt for others' sorrows as their own, Who lent a helping hand to those in need, Returning good for evil, love for hate, Whose garments now were white as spotless wool, Whose faces beamed with gentleness and love, As onward, upward, devas guide their steps, Nirvana's happy mansions full in view.

He saw the n.o.ble eightfold path that mounts From life's low levels to Nirvana's heights.

Not by steep grades the strong alone can climb, But by such steps as feeblest limbs may take.

He saw that day by day and step by step, By l.u.s.ts resisted and by evil shunned, By acts of love and daily duties done, Soothing some heartache, helping those in need, Smoothing life's journey for a brother's feet, Guarding the lips from harsh and bitter words, Guarding the heart from gross and selfish thoughts, Guarding the hands from every evil act, Brahman or Sudra, high or low, may rise Till heaven's bright mansions open to the view, And heaven's warm sunshine brightens all the way; While neither hecatombs of victims slain, Nor clouds of incense wafted to the skies, Nor chanted hymns, nor prayers to all the G.o.ds, Can raise a soul that clings to groveling l.u.s.ts.

He saw the cause of sorrow, and its cure.

He saw that waves of love surround the soul As waves of sunlight fill the outer world, While selfishness, the subtle alchemist Concealed within, changes that love to hate, Forges the links of karma's fatal chain, Of pa.s.sions, envies, l.u.s.ts to bind the soul, And weaves his webs of falsehood and deceit To close its windows to the living light, Changing its mansion to its prison-house, Where it must lay self-chained and self-condemned; While DHARMA, TRUTH, the LAW, the LIVING WORD, Brushes away those deftly woven webs, Opens its windows to the living light, Reveals the architect of all its ills, Scatters the timbers of its prison-house,[3]

And snaps in twain those bitter, galling chains So that the soul once more may stand erect, Victor of self, no more to be enslaved, And live in charity and gentle peace, Bearing all meekly, loving those who hate; And when at last the fated stream is reached, With lightened boat to reach the other sh.o.r.e.

And here he found the light he long had sought, Gilding at once Nirvana's blissful heights And lighting life's sequestered, lowly vales-- A light whose inner life is perfect love, A love whose outer form is living light, Nirvana's Sun, the Light of all the worlds,[4]

Heart of the universe, whose mighty pulse Gives heaven, the worlds and even h.e.l.l their life, Maker and Father of all living things Matreya's[5] self, the Lover, Saviour, Guide, The last, the greatest Buddha, who must rule As Lord of all before the kalpa's end.

The way of life--the n.o.ble eightfold path, The way of truth, the Dharma-pada--found, With joy he bade his loving guides farewell, With joy he turned from all those blissful scenes.

And when the rosy dawn next tinged the east, And morning's burst of song had waked the day, With staff and bowl he left the sacred tree-- Where pilgrims, pa.s.sing pathless mountain-heights, And desert sands, and ocean's stormy waves, From every nation, speaking every tongue, Should come in after-times to breathe their vows-- Beginning on that day his pilgrimage Of five and forty years from place to place, Breaking the cruel chains of caste and creed, Teaching the law of love, the way of life.

[1]The later Buddhists make much of the doctrine of metempsychosis, but in the undoubted sayings and Sutras or sermons of Buddha I find no mention of it except in this way as the last hope of those who persist through life in evil, while the good after death reach the other sh.o.r.e, or Nirvana, where there is no more birth or death.

[2]This great and fundamental truth, lying as the basis of human action and responsibility, was recognized by Homer, who makes Jupiter say:

"Perverse mankind, whose wills created free, Charge all their woes to absolute decree."

Odyssey, Book I, lines 41 and 42

[3]After examining the attempted explanations of that remarkable pa.s.sage, the original of which is given at the end of the sixth book of Arnold's "Light of Asia," I am satisfied this is its true interpretation. It is not the death of the body, for he lived forty-five years afterwards, much less the annihilation of the soul, as some have imagined, but the conquest of the pa.s.sions and gross and selfish desires which make human life a prison, the very object and end of the highest Christian teaching's and aspirations.

[4] "Know then that heaven and earth's compacted frame, And flowing waters, and the starry flame, And both the radiant lights, one common soul Inspires and feeds and animates the whole."

Dryden's Virgil, Book VI, line 360.

[5]Buddha predicted that Matreya (Love incarnate) would be his successor (see Beal's Fa Hian, page 137, note 2, and page 162; also Hardy's Manual, page 386, and Oldenburgh's Buddhism, page 386), who was to come at the end of five hundred years at the end of his Dharma (see Buddhism and Christianity, Lillie, page 2).

It is a remarkable fact that this successor is the most common object of worship among Buddhists, so that the most advanced Buddhists and the most earnest Christians have the same object of worship under different names.

BOOK VII.

Alone on his great mission going forth, Down Phalgu's valley he retraced his steps, Down past the seat where subtle Mara sat, And past the fountain where the siren sang, And past the city, through the fruitful fields And gardens he had traversed day by day For six long years, led by a strong desire To show his Brahman teachers his new light.

But ah! the change a little time had wrought!

A new-made stupa held their gathered dust, While they had gone where all see eye to eye, The darkness vanished and the river crossed.

Then turning sadly from this hallowed spot-- Hallowed by strivings for a higher life More than by dust this little mound contained-- He sought beneath the spreading banyan-tree His five companions, whom he lately left Sad at his own departure from the way The sacred Vedas and the fathers taught.

They too had gone, to Varana.s.si[1] gone, High seat and centre of all sacred lore.

The day was well-nigh spent; his cave was near, Where he had spent so many weary years, And as he thither turned and upward climbed, The shepherd's little child who watched the flock His love had rescued from the b.l.o.o.d.y knife, Upon a rock that rose above his path Saw him pa.s.s by, and ran with eagerness To bear the news. Joy filled that humble home.

They owed him all. The best they had they brought, And offered it with loving grat.i.tude.

The master ate, and as he ate he taught These simple souls the great, the living truth That love is more than costly sacrifice; That daily duties done are highest praise; That when life's duties end its sorrows end, And higher joys await the pure in heart.

Their eager souls drank in his living words As those who thirst drink in the living spring.

Then reverently they kissed his garment's hem, And home returned, while he lay down to sleep.

And sweetly as a babe the master slept-- No doubts, no darkness, and no troubled dreams.

When rosy dawn next lit the eastern sky, And morning's grateful coolness filled the air, The master rose and his ablutions made.

With bowl and staff in hand he took his way Toward Varana.s.si, hoping there to find The five toward whom his earnest spirit yearned.